smithgrind Senior Member Joined: 4 Aug 2005 Posts: 12 Location: SF Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Aug 15, 2005, 1:29pm Subject: Any recommendations for low-cost beans to start making espresso with?
I just got my first "real" setup, a Silvia and MDF grinder. I want to start off using low-cost beans from Trader Joe's, Safeway, or Costco while I develop my technique. No sense in using expensive beans till I know what I'm doing.
I usually buy Trader Joe's french roast beans (in the big blue can) for drip; it's not my favorite (Peet's is), but it's drinkable and the price is pretty good.
Any recommendations for cheap beans to start off with that will produce halfway decent results? I'm only looking at pre-roasted beans because I'm not ready to take the plunge into roasting them myself yet.
Posted Mon Aug 15, 2005, 1:52pm Subject: Re: Any recommendations for low-cost beans to start making espresso with?
Congrats on an excellent choice of equipment! You're going to have some fun, but at first, be prepared for a tough learning curve. Trust me, it'll get better as time goes on. Don't get demoralized at first.
Vis a vis your question, you're taking the wrong approach. Unless you have a Costco that does its own roasting (there are some, but none of the ones I've used in California and Nevada ever did), the beans you'd get at a Costco or Trader Joe's or Safeway will be stale. Stale beans, such as the dark roast you used to get at Trader Joe's and I used to use too for drip, can be okay for drip sometimes, but in espresso it gets really nasty. On top of that, when first dialing in your grinder and testing out Silvia, you're going to be using the amount of crema as a measure of success, and stale beans don't provide crema.
One way to go is to find a good mail order brand that is cheap and designed for espresso, and order a couple of pounds all at once. Coffeewholesalers.com are great guys and their Emerald espresso blends are pretty cheap and surprisingly good.
Or you could skip trying to save a few dollars, as you'll probably only waste, what, half a pound at most dialing in your equipment? In that case, I have found rileys-coffee.com 's Decatur Street Blend to be one of the best blends ever for testing out equipment. It's not an exotic or idiosyncratic blend: it's a straightforward dark, low acid blend made specifically for espresso, with very strong caramel tones, and the right amount of crema.
Another way to go is, if you're driving down toward San Jose at any time, stop by Barefoot Coffee Roasters -- the best espresso/cappas in the Bay Area and freshly roasted espresso blends for sale, too.
Anzura Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 60 Location: Ca Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Rocky
Posted Mon Aug 15, 2005, 2:25pm Subject: Re: Any recommendations for low-cost beans to start making espresso with?
Cordovero Said:
Vis a vis your question, you're taking the wrong approach. Unless you have a Costco that does its own roasting (there are some, but none of the ones I've used in California and Nevada ever did),
The Costco here in N. Cal (Sac area) does roast it's own beans. I went last week and got a bag that had Aug as the roast date. Seeing how it was only Aug 8th when i went...I thought it was pretty good. However, the only roast was French roast. The other roasts had July dates. I bought it to try it out and it's not very good (not much crema and tastes over roasted). I vac sealed them in 1/2 lb bags and stuck them in the freezer. They will be good for my french press when i go camping.
I also used to love the Trader Joes coffee's. But now that I have a Sivlia, it all sucks. I have a local roaster here that is $7.50 a lb and they roast their espresso blend every other day. It's awesome! My husband just got back from a trip to Oregon and bought me a lb of some fresh roasted stuff from Newport Coffee. They say they are "famous" for their "Killer Koffee" blend and never have anything more than 24 hours old. I brewed some up and it was no where near as good as the stuff i get from my roaster. I feel blessed. Just wish he was a little bit closer. Hence why I'm trying to roast my own now and I suck!
Anyway....for the original poster, I would call around to coffee shops around you and ask if they roast their own coffee (that's what I did). I'm sure you will find 1 or 2 that do. You can even google it. Type in your area and then "coffee roasters". Your better off perfecting your technique with "good" coffee. How will you ever know if your shot is good if the coffee is stale and bad. Also, I waste several shots when I get a new bag due to adjusting the grinder settings. Every coffee blend is different and needs a different setting.
I purchased Silvia in June and it really didn't take that long to learn. Getting tired of temp surfing though and just forwarded all the PID stuff to my dad. Hopefully he'll help me get that going.
Posted Mon Aug 15, 2005, 3:10pm Subject: Re: Any recommendations for low-cost beans to start making espresso with?
smithgrind Said:
I just got my first "real" setup, a Silvia and MDF grinder. I want to start off using low-cost beans from Trader Joe's, Safeway, or Costco while I develop my technique. No sense in using expensive beans till I know what I'm doing.
I usually buy Trader Joe's french roast beans (in the big blue can) for drip; it's not my favorite (Peet's is), but it's drinkable and the price is pretty good.
Any recommendations for cheap beans to start off with that will produce halfway decent results? I'm only looking at pre-roasted beans because I'm not ready to take the plunge into roasting them myself yet.
Congratulations on the new setup. As a newbie to espresso too, I have a couple of possible thoughts:
Train with pre-ground Illy Espresso in the can. Not great, but it saves a little money on the learning curve. It worked well for me - lots of wasted, sour shots before I started getting my technique down. Even after two months, I'm still getting the technique down. Be patient and you'll do great.
Some of the Whole Foods stores roast coffee inhouse and sell it within a couple of days. Not sure if the one in SF does, though.
Get green beans from SweetMaria's in Oakland (www.sweetmarias.com) and roast your own. Freshly roasted makes a world of difference. Fairly easy to do can you can roast fairly cheaply (in a Popper II, or the SC/TO setup). Learning both the espresso and the roasting at the same time could get really frustrating though.
Brent Roasting in an SC/TO and iRoast 2 Europiccola/Drip/Presspot
Posted Mon Aug 15, 2005, 4:59pm Subject: Re: Any recommendations for low-cost beans to start making espresso with?
With all due respect, it won't help the OP to learn to grind if they're buying preground Illy, which, wherever I see it, is extremely expensive (and rather stale, though it smells good when you first open it.)
I do, however, agree with the SweetMaria's suggesiton. The OP said they don't want to homeroast, but it certainly "can" be easy. I just Ebayed my Poppery setup: some lucky guy got a 1 lb bag of my DeansBeans PNG, my modified 6 month old Popper, wooden spoon, and detailed instructions, all for $20.
I'm sure there are a couple of good San Francisco cafes who fresh roast, though I haven't had great luck with local roasters. The two local roasters in Las Vegas don't do a very good job on the espresso blends. But it's certainly important to patronize them and find out. I bought a lot locally here before realizing that good espresso took precedence over being a good citizen.
Posted Mon Aug 15, 2005, 7:34pm Subject: Re: Any recommendations for low-cost beans to start making espresso with?
SG, if you don't want to roast your own, that's cool. We'll convert you eventually. :) I'd look for a local roaster where you can get fresh beans. Ideally you will find a good espresso blend. Second best would be some fresh roasted Sulawesi (Celebes) which makes a pretty good single origin shot.
minhi Senior Member Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 87 Location: Falls Church Expertise: Just starting
Posted Wed Aug 17, 2005, 7:38am Subject: Re: Any recommendations for low-cost beans to start making espresso with?
if you're in SF, sweetmarias does sell roasted beans on a limited basis (only 1 blend per week). I would suggest you get some beans from them if you can make it there. Ritual Coffee in the City uses Stumptown roased coffee and that's another option.
if you can't get these places i'd recommend caffe fresco (caffefresco.us), their dattera and ambrosia blends are very good and he only charges 3.85 for USPS priority shipping. per bag prices are around $9 for a 12oz bag, around $6 for a 8oz bag if you want to experiment.
fresh beans are much easier to brew then old ones, the grind is more consistent, the shot has tons more crema and shot to shot the timing is same. i think using old beans will cost you more money because you're just wasting time and money developing 'skills' that you will relearn with fresh beans. you also won't know how 'well' you're pulling a shot because you're tasting old espresso beans. with the fresh stuff you get a better idea of how well you're pulling your shots because the taste is so much better.
BTW how much are you spending on trader joes? 5-6 per 12 oz bag? a high quality fresh roast is $8-$10/bag. what's the point of practicing with crappy coffee if you can't taste it? When i started using fresh beans it took me 2 throw away shots to get my grinder dialed-in (ie the shots were undrinkable) by the 3rd shot i could taste the espresso. by the fifth shot it was fine. another thing you should remember--you never perfect espresso pulls. you can pull 20 straight great shots and then pull a dud. it's part of the process, so get some fresh beans!
I have NO IDEA about flavor characteristics or anything like that. I've been wanting to ask some of you geeks if I could send you 1/2 lb and see what you thought about it.
The shop is called Sierra Roasting Co in Rocklin Ca. They actually have 2 locations, about 1/2 mile apart. 2600 Sunset Blvd Ste 108 3051 Stanford Ranch Rd
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